Before "Love"

Day 15: A photo of you and someone you loveI know....another photo of Aaron and I=Boring! BUT, let me tell you the story behind this picture and maybe you'll see why I chose this one :)

So, this picture is actually before we said the magic "I love you" phrase. We had decided to save that until our engagement night so this was still in the "I really REALLY like you" stage and was at my senior year homecoming game.

BUT, what this picture doesn't show is what happened the week before. We had discussed marriage, looked at rings, and had even discussed possible dates of a wedding before this week and Aaron had called me on Monday of homecoming week and had asked me on a date for Friday night. "Dress up!", he had said.

"Dress up!?!" My mind quickly RAN to the possibility of getting engaged that weekend...Homecoming weekend...."It's perfect!" I thought. What I didn't know was that Aaron was throwing me off while he continued to plan our perfect proposal two weeks later :)

Anyways, I highlighted my hair so it would be perfect for all those "proposal pictures", prepped myself to be proposed to that night, and dreamed about what ring he had picked out. HA! I feel like a dork even admitting all my silliness! I was blown away when Aaron picked me up and headed to this expensive Carribean/seafood restaurant downtown. After our meal, I was thinking through every way that he might pop the question.

Then, by pure COINCIDENCE, we walked out the door to see a black limo in front of the restaurant. If you remember, on our first date Aaron rented a black limo (and did so for the actual proposal too) so it just confirmed my suspicions. However, we walked right past the limo and into a little park to walk around. I started getting confused...

I totally manipulated the situation by asking Aaron if he had ever been to the Stone Arch Bridge (just to see if he had a proposal plan or not!) and when he responded with "No...do you want to head there?" I KNEW that this wasn't the proposal night because Aaron would have a plan and wouldn't let my silly manipulation tactics interfere :)

A little dejected, I went home that night and laughed at myself for being so dumb and "girly". And then this picture was taken the next day with my freshly highlighted hair and my boyfriend who I "really really liked" still :)

But, two weeks later I commended my then fiance (who said "I love you" for the first time) for his excellent work in completely throwing me off and sweeping me off my feet with an incredible proposal....on the Stone Arch Bridge :)

There you have it....A photo of me and someone I love :)